=^oo^=Thank you to everyone who entered the draw for Rescued. It was great fun :) I had a chat with The Affiliate Typist and we I decided that our coffers could stretch to two copies. So, after tickling random.org the numbers that corresponded to:Cyn Stride (Facebook)Lola the Rescued Catwere randomly selected:-)ConCats to you both and you'll be receiving your copies by mail shortly! :)=^oo^=

Friday, 20 March 2015

It's a packed blog post today ........ Read on.....I was very very fortunate to win a copy of the just published book Rescued: The Stories of 12 Cats, Through Their Eyesfrom my good pal, Brian from Brian's Home. Thanks mate :)The Staff and I were very excited indeed - well, to be absolutely honest, it was The Staff who was jumping up and down like a two year old on a pogo stick! I thought it was a bit unseemly!

It is pretty obvious from the title what it is all about:

Twelve catsTwelve rescuesTwelve storiesTwelve authorsPlusTwelve months = Twelve shelters/rescues that will benefit from the sales. One each month.The book is beautifully presented and was edited by Janiss Garza who is the human of Summer over at Sparkle Cat and a good blogging friend and the stunning cover was designed by Glogirly who, incidentally, is the creative brain behind our blog design!At least six of the rescue stories are written by blogging pals! Being a rescue kitty myself, I can truly identify with these narratives. They are heartwarming, sometimes heart wrenching, but always compelling.

My name is Austin and I endorse this book!

The Staff read it straight through in two sittings (she had to take a nap break at one point!) and was enchanted by the stories, each toldin a unique voice.As I mentioned above, from each copy bought, a portion of the sales will go to a shelter or rescue nominated by each author, each month for twelve months. This month the nominated shelter is Great Plains SPCA and you can read about their amazing story here. They were selected by Ryker's human, Lisa Richman, whose blog A Tonk's Tail is one of our absolute faves.You can buy a copy from Amazon US or Amazon UK and there is a kindle option too.Now, I have been having a good long chat with The Staff Person and we have decided that we would like to offer one copy of the book in a draw to one person, from anywhere in the world, who leaves a comment here. Lisa has very kindly agreed to also send a "pawtographed" and signed bookplate to the lucky winner! All commenters will be entered into the draw unless they specifically say otherwise.

Please leave a comment before midday GMT on Monday - don't forget to put email contact details - and we will use random.org to choose the winner. Watch this space!

=^,,^=

A bit of a neat segue here. The beautiful cover star of Rescued is Crepes from Cat in the Fridge blog. Her sweet story is also told in the book and her humans are the brains behind the hilarious Cat CATastrophes videos. They have recently launched a new video to celebrate the "magic of black cats". It stars Hemingway who plays "Magic Kevin" who brings his owners amazing good luck when they adopt him, only for it to all go seriously wrong when they take him to be neutered! Watch it! Have a laugh! Think about adopting a black cat :)

Sunday, 15 March 2015

Some of you had the temerity to laugh at the fact that one of my nicknames is Poopy!! The person who gave me that name was summoned to appear before the magistrate and interrogated as to the reason why this came about!

Under rather exhaustive cross examination the following statement was forthcoming from the accused: It is poo as in puddy with the affectionate ...pee (contracted to py) suffix as a term of endearment! So it's nothing to do with ..... err ..... you know ..... doodoo or peepee!

In fact I am given to understand that it is the shortened form of nincompoop. See below for definition.

We are joining Kitties Blue who are hosting the Sunday Selfie blog hop :)

Tuesday, 10 March 2015

Ok, I know awards get passed around, but I've had most of these for a while without thanking those that gave them to me! As the young things would say "My Bad"! So since I have accepted them, it is only polite to post them for all to see.

I know there are rules schmools with some of them, but as President of NUCAT I question the need to fulfil the rules schmools without proper discussion and negotiation about rights and privileges!

Putting all that aside I am a grateful kitty - yes I'm full of grate - to have so many buddies.

Scroll through all the pretty pictures until you get to a lot of writing again. It'll be worth it! Honest! :)

Being born and brought up in the decidedly un-neat rural North Wales, I understand that "Real Neat" is a good thing! Real meaning "not imaginary" and Neat meaning "tidy" I'll take that! I'm definitely not a figment of The Staff's imagination and I like my things arranged just so.

There are seven questions to answer from each of the awarders, so I have combined them to make fourteen in all (you can never hear enough about me, right?) Though some might be answered by the pollexed personage - she is a person of a certain age!!!

From Dezi - my answers in red

1. Do you hav any nicknames? Yes and some are quite embarrassing and will only be divulged under duress! Mr Poo is the main one. Also The Boy, My Boy, Poopy and Whozabooful'ngorjusshandsomestkittyboy? *rolls eyes*2. If so, what’s yous favowit, why and how did you get it? Well, not the last one that's for sure! I haven't interrogated the humans as to what strange mental processes they go through in order to come up with something like "Poopy"!!!

3. What’s yous favowit season and why? Summer, without a doubt. As I go outside and hunt and play with Tigger, my buddy.

4. Do you hav any siblings, and if so how many? I am an enigma. Nobody knows. I was a foundling.

5. Awe you da oldest or yungest? And do you fink you get tweated diffewent cuz of it? See answer to 4 above.

6. Do you hav a favowit tweat or dessert and what is it? Treat!!! Any make chicken and cheese, though since we've had the NUCAT campaign to change the name of treat, it is now officially a vitamin! ;)

7. Do you hav a favowit game or past time, and what is it? Apart from napping you mean? I quite like chatting to The Staff as she is a very good listener. However, my favourite pastime is playing with the knitting needle that the very old human in the house - my grandma - click click clicks with all the time. The noise makes me very antsy!! I love it. The human has to be careful that I don't get poked with it by mistake! AND I love being brushed the wrong way. I know! Crazy, isn't it!

From Sammy

1. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you want to live and why? The Staff says, the Black Forest and I say here is just fine thank you :)

2. What’s your all time FAVORITE gift you EVER received? Tough one! There have been so many! I would say the last one I played with.

3. What scares you the most? Sudden loud noises like fireworks and the human coughing.

4. Do you think animals and humans reincarnate? No

5. Do you think there’s life on other planets? In the form of living sentient beings? No.

Friday, 6 March 2015

Yes, with no warning whatsoever, I suffered THE SUPREME INDIGNITY and was stuffed into the box and taken to the evil V-E-T yesterday afternoon. This happened without my consent or even prior knowledge! I believe this contravenes some law or other and is probably a job for NUCAT! Comrades, you all heard what I said while I was incarceratedlocked up kept safe in the clink carrier. We must mobilise and come together as one kitty to stop this terrible occurrence from ... errr .... reoccurring! This is what happens when those pollex-protruding-peeps get bees in their bonnets ... though have to say I've never seen my particular pollex-protruding-peep wear a bonnet at all. Not ever! Therefore I'm not absolutely sure where she keeps her bee? Answers on a postcard!Ahem! Anyway, the point is, if we have to go to the evil V-E-T (and yes, I know we have to) then the pollex-protruding-peep has to submit a written request in triplicate at least three weeks beforehand so that we can make alternative arrangements be ready. It's a totally reasonable request! What say you?Other matters pending. The renaming of "treats" as stipulated by the NUCAT Charter, section 34(d), subsection 253(i), para 497, subpara 3428, clause XMXXlV, subclause 2(b). There have been several suggestions and these I put before you:NommiesGoodiesCwumblesNecessitiesWheat grassVitaminsI believe any of those would be better than the current nomenclature. We will put it to the vote amongst members shortly, say in about May 2018.

Thank you for your attention

=^,,^=

triplicate - from the French trip le chat meaning to cause a cat to stumble

=^,,^=

Note from The Staff. Austin was at the vet having his annual flu shot and check up. Apart from giving a sterling performance of Aida's aria from Verdi, he was so good :) His weight is 5.6kgs which shows he's not wasting away! The only problem is the ongoing stomatitis, which might necessitate another cryosurgery on his mouth in the next few months! His teeth appear ok though and I shall keep a check on it.

Tuesday, 3 March 2015

It has been suggested by Comrade Savannah that this already global movement should convene a planning conference! Comrade Cody and Comrade Katie Isabella and many others are proclaiming it from the rooftops! We are a movement for change and for ........... thumbs!! Yep, that's right, thumbs! Today is "If pets (cats) had thumbs" day. Not just thumbs, because many cats do have thumbs, but OPPOSABLE thumbs! Which brings me on to the very first grievance to put before the (miss)management ......

This grievance was raised by Comrade Annie Bear. In her own words .. "how about not enough treats (once a day is not enough!)......."

Yes it is about treats! First of all, I submit the name should be changed. "Treat" indicates something rarely given as an indulgence or an extravagance or luxury! How can something that gives so much pleasurable nomminess to 99% of all cats be an indulgence? Second of all, unless you are a Waffles with teeth like Jaws from the Bond films the treat pack is always out of reach behind closed and padlocked doors which we can't open because WE DON'T HAVE OPPOSABLE THUMBS!

So our first submission is "The treat shall no longer be called a treat, but receive a new name and become established and accepted as a vital food group for the health and wellbeing of cats! Therefore, the erstwhile treat (new name to be decided) shall be placed in a cat accessible location at all times in a container with a flip-top lid which is easily flicked with a thumbless paw!"

Our second submission is "that the case for opposable thumbs be sent to the highest authority toot sweet so that plans for world domination can proceed unhindered!"

What do you think Comrades? Is this doable? Will the (miss)management be taken in amenable? Will we need arbitration? Has The Staff completely lost her marbles? (the last is without doubt true!)

Remember, we are demoCATic and all comments and suggestions will be given due consideration. So, we have to be .........

consistently

persistent and

insistent that the

assistant is not

resistant or

distant and that the treats (new name pending) are

existent at all times!

Simplez :))

Meanwhile .......

It's been a long day!

The Blankie is calling!

NB All grievances from members can be submitted so the committee i.e. all cat members (NOT Affiliates) and will be considered for (in)action in due course ;)

Sunday, 1 March 2015

Further to the launch yesterday of NUCAT - the National Union of Cats and without Affiliate Typists - I wish to thank everyone who has signed up as charter members and taken the oath of allegiance (whatever!) and who is proudly displaying the badge.

Also I am opening up an office in Catatonia so that all those with grievances can have them addressed with maximum ennui and lassitude.

Here I am doing my best ennui and lassitude

So, please feel free to send me detailed expositions of your concerns and together we will decide how to overcome the tyranny of the Affiliates, who, just because they have opposable thumbs does not mean they should run the universe. Look at it from our point of view! They sleep roughly eight hours in twenty-four. We, on the other paw, sleep at least twenty. Who has the most wars? Do the math!

Be a cat.

Peace out and nap!

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